Advertisement

Origin and history of unwitting

unwitting(adj.)

"not knowing, ignorant," late 14c., altered from or re-formed to replace unwitand, from Old English unwitende "ignorant;" see un- (1) "not" + witting (adj.); also see -ing (2). OED says rare after c. 1600; revived c. 1800. Related: Unwittingly "without being aware what one is doing." Similar formation in Old High German unwizzanti, German unwissend, Old Norse uvitandi, Gothic unwitands.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to unwitting

witting(adj.)

"with full awareness," late 14c. (implied in wittingly), present-participle adjective from wit (v.).

-ing(2)

suffix used to form the present participles of verbs and the adjectives derived from them, from Old English present-participle suffix -ende, from PIE *-nt- (cognates: German -end, Gothic -and, Sanskrit -ant, Greek -on, Latin -ans, -ens). The vowel weakened in late Old English and the spelling with -g began 13c.-14c. among Anglo-Norman scribes who naturally confused it with -ing (1).

Advertisement

More to explore

obsess
c. 1500, "to besiege" (a sense now obsolete), from Latin obsessus, past participle of obsidere "watch closely; besiege, occupy; stay, remain, abide" literally "sit opposite to," from ob "against" (see ob-) + sedere "to sit," from PIE root *sed- (1) "to sit." Of evil spirits, "to
dystopia
"imaginary bad place," 1952, from dys- "bad, abnormal" + ending abstracted from utopia. Earlier in medical use, "displacement of an organ" (by 1844), with second element from Greek topos "place" (see topos). Dystopian was used in the non-medical sense in 1868 by J.S. Mill: I may
aubergine
"fruit of the eggplant" (Solanum esculentum), 1775, from French aubergine, from Catalan alberginera (showing typical change of al- to au- in French), from Arabic al-badinjan "the eggplant" (source also of Spanish alberengena, 15c.), from Persian badin-gan, from Sanskrit vatigagam
conservation
late 14c., conservacioun, "preservation of health and soundness, maintenance in good condition, act of guarding or keeping with care," from Latin conservationem (nominative conservatio) "a keeping, preserving, conserving," noun of action from past-participle stem of conservare "t
brother
"male person in his relation to another person or other persons of either sex born of the same parents," Old English broþor, from Proto-Germanic *brothar (source also of Old Norse broðir, Danish broder, Old Frisian brother, Dutch broeder, Old High German bruodar, German Bruder, G
honest
c. 1300, "respectable, decent, of neat appearance," also "free from fraud," from Old French oneste, honeste "virtuous, honorable; decent, respectable" (12c.; Modern French honnête), from Latin honestus "honorable, respected, regarded with honor," figuratively "deserving honor, ho
dandy
"man who draws attention by unusual finery of dress and fastidiousness manners, a fop," c. 1780, of uncertain origin; attested earliest in a Scottish border ballad: I've heard my granny crack O' sixty twa years back When there were sic a stock of Dandies O etc. In that regi
crumb
Middle English crome, crumme, from Old English cruma "fragment of bread or other food, a morsel, small fragment," from a West Germanic root of obscure origin (compare Middle Dutch crume, Dutch kruim, German Krume); perhaps from a PIE word for "small particle of bread" and cognate
oasis
"fertile spot in a desert, where there is a spring or well and more or less vegetation," originally in reference to the Libyan desert, 1610s, from French oasis (18c.) and directly from Late Latin oasis, from Greek oasis, probably from Hamitic (compare Coptic wahe, ouahe "oasis,"
duplicity
"deceptiveness, character or practice of speaking differently of the same thing or acting differently at different times or to different persons," early 15c., from Old French duplicite (13c.), from Late Latin duplicitatem (nominative duplicitas) "doubleness," in Medieval Latin "a

Share unwitting

Advertisement
Trending
Dictionary entries near unwitting
Advertisement